Thomas R. Phillips
Thomas Royal Phillips (born October 23, 1949) is an attorney with the Baker Botts firm in Austin, Texas, who was from 1988 to 2004 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. With nearly seventeen years of service, Phillips is the third-longest tenured Chief Justice in Texas history. He was appointed by Governor Bill Clements to fill a vacancy in the office in November 1987, becoming the youngest Chief Justice since Texas became a state. Phillips took office less than a month after CBS' ''60 Minutes'' ran a highly publicized story, entitled "Justice for Sale?," which won widespread attention for its blistering critique of Texas' choice to elect judges by political party without campaign contribution limits. The broadcast alleged improperly close ties between several of the justices and their largest donors, who were amongst the state's most successful personal-injury trial lawyers. In campaigns that received national attention in 1988, Phillips and two other candidates runn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine United States Minor Outlying Islands, Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in Compact of Free Association, free association with three Oceania, Pacific Island Sovereign state, sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Palau, Republic of Palau. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders Canada–United States border, with Canada to its north and Mexico–United States border, with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the List of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Republican Party
The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories. Since Ronald Reagan's presidency in the 1980s, conservatism has been the dominant ideology of the GOP. It has been the main political rival of the Democratic Party since the mid-1850s. The Republican Party's intellectual predecessor is considered to be Northern members of the Whig Party, with Republican presidents Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison all being Whigs before switching to the party, from which they were elected. The collapse of the Whigs, which had previously been one of the two major parties in the country, strengthened the party's electoral success. Upon its founding, it supported classical ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA), is the court of last resort in criminal matters. The Court has its seat at the Supreme Court Building on the State Capitol grounds in Austin, Texas. The Texas Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices. All nine positions are elected, with a term of office of six years and no term limit. The Texas Supreme Court was established in 1846 to replace the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas. It meets in Downtown Austin, Texas in an office building near the Texas State Capitol. Regulation of the practice of law in Texas courts By statute, the Texas Supreme Court has administrative control over the State Bar of Texas, an agency of the judiciary. The Texas Supreme Court has the sole author ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' is a newspaper based in Lubbock, Texas, United States. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Lubbock Avalanche'' was founded in 1900 by John James Dillard and Thad Tubbs. According to Dillard, the name "Avalanche" was chosen due to his desire that the newspaper surprise the citizens of Lubbock. The newspaper was sold to James Lorenzo Dow in 1908. In 1922, the ''Avalanche'' became a daily newspaper (except for Mondays) and a year later added a morning edition. In 1926, the owners of the rival ''Lubbock Daily Journal'', editor Charles A. Guy and partner Dorrance Roderick, bought ''The Avalanche'' to form ''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.'' The pair partnered with Houston Harte and Bernard Hanks, later of Harte Hanks, as well as J. Lindsay Nunn of ''The Amarillo Daily News and Post''. In 1928, Guy, Roderick, and Nunn bought control of the ''Avalanche-Journal'' from Harte and Hanks. Guy was named editor and publisher in 1931 of ''The Avalanche-Journal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspapers and broadcasters. The AP has earned 56 Pulitzer Prizes, including 34 for photography, since the award was established in 1917. It is also known for publishing the widely used ''AP Stylebook''. By 2016, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters, English, Spanish, and Arabic. The AP operates 248 news bureaus in 99 countries. It also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative. As part of their cooperative agreement with the AP ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University System. The university's student enrollment is the sixth-largest in Texas as of the Fall 2020 semester. As of fall 2020, there were 40,322 students (33,269 undergraduate and 7,053 graduate) enrolled at Texas Tech. With over 25% of its undergraduate student population identifying as Hispanic, Texas Tech University is a designated Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). The university offers degrees in more than 150 courses of study through 13 colleges and hosts 60 research centers and institutes. Texas Tech University has awarded over 200,000 degrees since 1927, including over 40,000 graduate and professional degrees. Texas Tech is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." Research projects in the areas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, and Springfield, Massachusetts, Springfield. It is one of two de jure county seats of Middlesex County, although the county's executive government was abolished in 1997. Situated directly north of Boston, across the Charles River, it was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, once also an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lesley University, and Hult International Business School are in Cambridge, as was Radcliffe College before it merged with Harvard. Kendall Square in Cambridge has been called "the most innovati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waco, Texas
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the List of cities in Texas by population, 22nd-most populous city in the U.S. state, state. The 2021 U.S. Census population estimate for the city was 139,594. The Waco metropolitan area, Waco metropolitan statistical area consists of McLennan and Falls counties, which had a 2010 population of 234,906. Falls County was added to the Waco MSA in 2013. The 2021 U.S. census population estimate for the Waco metropolitan area was 280,428. History 1824–1865 Indigenous peoples occupied areas along the river for thousands of years. In historic times, the area of present-day Waco was occupied by the Wichita people, Wichita Native Americans of the United States, Indian tribe known as the "Waco tribe, Waco" (Spanish: ''Hueco'' or ''Huaco''). In 1824, Tho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges. Article V of the Texas Constitution vests the judicial power of the state and describes the Court's jurisdiction and sets rules for judicial eligibility, elections, and vacancies. Jurisdiction In Texas, the Court of Criminal Appeals has final jurisdiction over all criminal matters (excluding juvenile proceedings, which are considered civil matters), while the Texas Supreme Court is the last word on all civil matters. The Court of Criminal Appeals exercises discretionary review over criminal cases, which means that it may choose whether or not to review a case. The only cases that the Court must hear are those involving the sentencing of capital punishment or the denial of bail. Court composition The Court is composed of a Presiding Judge and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rick Perry
James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections, losing to Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, respectively. Born into a family of cotton farmers in Haskell, Texas, Perry graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 and entered into the United States Air Force, serving a five-year stint and achieving the rank of captain. After leaving the Air Force in 1977, Perry returned to Texas and entered politics, serving as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991. In 1989, Perry switched parties and became a Republican, and was elected Texas Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Commissioner of Texas the following year. In 1998, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas, becomin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Judicature Society
The American Judicature Society (AJS) is an independent, non-partisan membership organization working nationally to protect the integrity of the American justice system. AJS's membership — including judges, lawyers, and members of the public — promotes fair and impartial courts through research, publications, education, and advocacy for judicial reform. The work of AJS focuses primarily on judicial diversity, judicial ethics, judicial selection, access to justice, criminal justice reform, and the jury system. History The American Judicature Society was established in 1913 as an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with the purpose of improving the administration of justice in the United States, and to increase public understanding of the justice system. At its peak, the AJS was a national and international organization that counted over 50,000 lawyers, judges, and layman from all 50 states, Canada, and 43 other countries as members. AJS was the original "fair cour ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Center For State Courts
The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is an independent, non-profit organization focused on improving the administration of justice in the United States and around the world. Its efforts are directed by a 27-member board of directors and through the collaborative work with the Conference of Chief Justices, the Conference of State Court Administrators, and other associations of judicial leaders. NCSC was founded in 1971 at the urging of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. It is based in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mission The National Center for State Courts promotes the rule of law and improves the administration of justice in state courts and courts around the world. History and founding In March 1971, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Warren E. Burger, called for the creation of a central resource for the state and local courts at the First National Conference of the Judiciary, in Williamsburg, Virginia. During the conference, which was at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |